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Query: UMLS:C0011168 (dysphagia)
 15,644 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

It is pertinent to ask what clinical conditions would geriatricians most want gastroenterologists to solve. I believe that the three most important are transfer dysphagia, constipation and diarrhea, and fecal incontinence. With transfer dysphagia, the older patient with central nervous system disease simply has forgotten how to swallow. Is it possible, with sensory retraining techniques, to make an impact upon this disabling problem? Although the healthy elderly appear to perceive constipation more often than they actually suffer from it, evacuation clearly is disturbed in hospitalized and nursing-home residents. Can we develop better prokinetic agents to alleviate this problem? Incontinence, more than any other gastrointestinal condition, leads to the transfer of patients from a protected home environment to a chronic-nursing facility. Can we study the pathophysiology of incontinence intensively, as Dr. Nicholas Read's group in Sheffield, England, has done, and develop approaches to managing this important problem? The presentations in this issue of Clinics in Geriatric Medicine may not provide all of the solutions for clinical problems in the elderly that we seek, but it should be a step in the right direction by making salient new information readily available.
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PMID:General perspectives on the aged gut. 185 54

Sucralfate (Sc) suspension 6 g/day and ranitidine (Rn) tablets, 150 mg, were compared in 125 patients in a double-blind, multicenter, endoscopically controlled trial in the treatment of reflux esophagitis. Inclusion criteria were symptomatic reflux (number and severity of attacks) and endoscopic evidence of esophagitis (grades 1 to 4). Clinical assessments were performed on entry, and at 4 and at 8 weeks, and endoscopy was repeated at 8 weeks. Sc suspension and Rn placebo or Sc placebo and Rn tablets were taken on waking and immediately before retiring at night. Of the 125 patients, 27 were withdrawn because of default (Rn = 4; Sc = 14), noncompliance (Rn = 1; Sc = 2), or the development of congestive cardiac failure (Rn = 1), diarrhea (Rn = 1; Sc = 1), nausea (Sc = 1), constipation (Sc = 1), and hematemesis (Sc = 1). Analysis was performed on the remaining 98 patients, 43 of whom had been treated with Sc and 55 with Rn. Heartburn, acid regurgitation, epigastric pain, dysphagia, and chest pain were relieved in 34% vs 40%, 67% vs 72%, 71% vs 57%, and 86% vs 63% for Sc and Rn, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups. Endoscopic healing occurred in 47% of the Sc- and in 31% of the Rn-treated patients (chi 2 = 2.50), and healing or improvement was noted in 81% of the Sc- and 64% of the Rn-treated patients. This difference approached statistical significance (chi 2 = 3.73). There was no obvious endoscopic benefit in 8 of the 43 and 20 of the 55 patients in the groups treated with Sc and Rn, respectively. Although the findings with sucralfate and ranitidine in patients with reflux esophagitis completing the trial suggest a benefit of these agents, the absence of a placebo control group and the high default rates, particularly for those receiving sucralfate, preclude any firm conclusions as to relative or specific efficacy of these agents in this condition.
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PMID:Reflux esophagitis therapy: sucralfate versus ranitidine in a double blind multicenter trial. 188 97

The efficacy of the prostaglandin analogue, rioprostil, in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis has been assessed in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 25 patients with endoscopic and histological evidence of reflux oesophagitis. At the beginning and end of the study, endoscopic appearances were graded 0-4 (0 = no oesophagitis, 4 = severe oesophagitis) and the symptoms of heartburn, regurgitation, pain and dysphagia were each graded 0-3 (0 = none, 3 = severe). Fourteen patients received rioprostil, 300 micrograms twice daily, and 11 patients received identically marked placebo for a period of 12 weeks. At the end of the study there were no significant differences between the groups in mean (s.d.) endoscopic grading (rioprostil 2.4 (1.3); placebo 1.9 (0.9)) and mean (s.d.) cumulative symptom score (rioprostil 2.5 (3.1); placebo 2.6 (1.5)). Five patients in the rioprostil group reported diarrhoea. Rioprostil had no significant benefit over placebo in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis.
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PMID:Prostaglandins in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis: double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial. 194 33

Over the next several decades the gastroenterologist practicing anywhere in the world will be confronted with patients with AIDS-related gastrointestinal disorders. Universal body substance isolation precautions should be practiced, however, in dealing with all patients, including those outside traditional 'risk' groups for AIDS. Principal among these precautions are using gloves for personnel involved in procedures and high-level disinfection or sterilization for all endoscopy equipment. Endoscopic procedures should be planned well in advance with special attention to endoscope selection and transport media availability. Organ-associated symptoms are reviewed, especially dysphagia, odynophagia, hemorrhage, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Opportunistic infections and malignancies often present characteristic endoscopic appearances such as that seen for cytomegalovirus ulceration or Kaposi's sarcoma. AIDS-related biliary disorders should also be recognized, principally sclerosing cholangitic or papillary stenosis.
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PMID:AIDS and the gastroenterologist. 223 76

In spite of the development of upper digestive tract fiberoptic endoscopy (FE) within the last 10 years, early detection of esophageal carcinoma (EC) is rare except in certain high-risk groups such as patients with head and neck cancers. The aim of this study was to assess the value of a meticulous histoendoscopic examination with vital toluidine blue (TB) staining in all alcohol and tobacco abusers undergoing FE for any reason except dysphagia. In 18 months, 100 patients (90 men, 10 women) who were over 40 years old and who consumed more than 80 g of alcohol and 20 g of tobacco per day underwent FE. No patient had a history of head and neck or esophageal cancer. FE was decided in 48 patients for epigastric pain, in 28 for esophageal varices, in 8 for weight loss, in 8 for anemia, in 7 for peptic disease, and in 1 for diarrhea. Staining with TB was carried out at the end of the examination and two routine biopsies were obtained 5 cm above the lower esophageal sphincter. Specimens were obtained from each abnormal area (TB + or TB -). Clinical ENT examination was recommended for all patients. Two esophageal carcinomas (1 microinvasive, 1 in situ) and 15 cases of dysplasia were detected. Dysplasia was classified as severe in 1 case, moderate in 9 cases, and mild in 5 cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Endoscopic detection of dysplasia and subclinical cancer of the esophagus. Results of a prospective study using toluidine blue vital staining in 100 patients with alcoholism and smoking]. 231 48

A patient who developed mutilans-type arthropathy, splenomegaly, leukopenia, leg ulcer and massive hydroxyapatite accumulation during the course of progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) was reported. A 56-years-old female had suffered Raynaud's phenomenon since the beginning of her third decade. She developed multiple symmetrical arthritis and morning stiffness at the age of 29, and was treated with NSAIDs and low dose corticosteroids under the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) Because of dysphagia and diarrhea, she was admitted in Niigata-Kenritsu Senami Hospital in September, 1987. Physical and roentgenographic examinations revealed diffuse scleroderma, mutilans-type arthropathy, lung fibrosis, splenomegaly and right leg ulcer. Laboratory examinations showed leukopenia, high titer of anti-DNA antibody, positive anti-Scl-70 antibody and mild hypocomplementemia. These findings suggested that she had PSS and Felty's syndrome. Furthermore, massive subcutaneous and intraarticular hydroxyapatite accumulation were noticed. The leg ulcer and laboratory data gradually improved with the combination therapy of corticosteroids, D-penicillamine and plasmapheresis. Although it has been well recognized that PSS patients reveal frequently the articular lesions similar to these of RA, severe mutilans-type arthropathy seen in this case is extremely rare. The joint contracture might be induced by hydroxyapatite accumulation, of which the early diagnosis seems to be very important in long-standing PSS patients.
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PMID:[A case of progressive systemic sclerosis associated with mutilans-type arthropathy and suspected Felty's syndrome]. 237 41

In a study of 154 consecutive patients who had a Nissen fundoplication performed by 12 surgeons over a 10-year period, 117 (76%) were available for review of symptoms 5-15 years after the procedure. Heartburn, the most common presenting symptom, was abolished in 85.5% and epigastric pain in 84.6% of patients. Fifteen patients (12.8%) considered the operation a failure because of dysphagia (17%), bloating (17%), pain (13%), heartburn (13%) or diarrhoea (6%). Comparison of possible risk factors between successes and failures showed no difference between these two groups in terms of age, sex, rank of surgeon, smoking, or accompanying crural repair. Prior response to H2-receptor antagonists did not influence outcome. Nissen fundoplication is successful in some 85% of patients over a period of 5-15 years after operation.
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PMID:Long-term results after Nissen fundoplication: a 5-15-year review. 239 29

The palliative treatment of inoperable cancers of the oesophagus, gastric fundus and rectum can be difficult and unsuccessful. Laser beam irradiation therapy offers good palliation in the majority of patients but requires several treatment sessions to achieve this. We describe a small series of patients treated with a new direct contact low power laser technique using artificial sapphire probes. After one treatment, in patients with malignant dysphagia, two thirds could swallow solids and in patients with rectal cancers bleeding was stopped or reduced and diarrhoea stopped. The interval before a second treatment was needed was three and a half weeks. We feel this technique is a useful adjuvant to conventional laser therapy of inoperable gastrointestinal tract tumours, especially in providing effective palliation in one treatment session.
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PMID:The palliative endoscopic treatment of inoperable oesophagogastric and rectal cancers: a low power direct contact laser technique. 244 54

A 60-year-old woman had progressive lower abdominal pain, nonbloody diarrhea, and weight loss, followed by severe epigastric pain and dysphagia. Radiographic evaluation of the colon showed segmental strictures which were interpreted as Crohn's disease. Medical treatment was not helpful. Neither gross endoscopic appearance nor multiple biopsies of the esophagus, stomach, and colon were diagnostic. Finally, laparotomy with full-thickness biopsies of the stomach and colon revealed linitis plastica. The clinician should be alert to colonic metastases from gastric linitis plastica, for it can produce focal or segmental strictures, mimicking more common colonic diseases such as Crohn's disease. A full-thickness biopsy is often necessary for a firm diagnosis. We review the literature on this occurrence, highlighting the clinical and radiologic spectrum, as well as the organ systems most often affected when gastric linitis plastica metastasizes.
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PMID:Gastric linitis plastica with metastases to the colon: a mimic of Crohn's disease. 255 55

Eighty-five patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were treated at Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital between April 1984 and June 1987. Sixty per cent of patients suffered gastrointestinal symptoms during the period of study, and in a further 15% of patients, abnormalities of the gastrointestinal tract were found incidentally. The principal manifestations were oropharyngeal ulceration, dysphagia/odynophagia, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, gastrointestinal bleeding, and perianal lesions. Opportunistic diseases involving all parts of the gastrointestinal system were encountered, the most prevalent being infections that were caused by Candida spp., cytomegalovirus, Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare and herpes simplex, and Kaposi's sarcoma. Abnormal liver-function test-results were found in 41 patients; most commonly, these were attributable to minor drug reactions, and cytomegalovirus or Myco. avium-intracellulare infection. Only one patient became jaundiced clinically. We conclude that involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is common in patients with AIDS, and that gastrointestinal lesions are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients.
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PMID:The gastrointestinal and hepatic manifestations of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 271 83


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